


Runaway (working title)

by 127774



Category: Brooklyn Nine-Nine (TV)
Genre: Established Relationship, Implied/Referenced Domestic Violence, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-01
Updated: 2020-06-08
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:39:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,449
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24495850
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/127774/pseuds/127774
Summary: When one of Amy's nephews unexpectedly turns up on their door step it triggers a lot of interesting conversations for the whole Santiago family, including about what exactly is going on between Rosa, Jake and Amy.
Relationships: Jake Peralta/Amy Santiago, Rosa Diaz/Amy Santiago, Rosa Diaz/Jake Peralta, Rosa Diaz/Jake Peralta/Amy Santiago
Comments: 5
Kudos: 95





	1. Chapter 1

Jake and Rosa were having a pretty good day, they didn’t have anywhere to be and no time they had to be there. That was why they were coming up on hour three of an intense videogame competition when they got a call from Amy, who was currently working, saying that she was going to be late home. Apparently two rival fraternities had an eating competition and things just got out of hand. She was stuck at the station finishing up a mountain of paperwork and dealing with a holding cell full of drunken frat boys. As much as they would have loved to have their girlfriend home, at least that meant they could carry on the completion. Still they were both very happy when, at around ten thirty the door opened.

“Hey babe” Rosa called, not looking up from the TV.

“How are the frat boys?” Jake asked, also not looking around.

“Err…”

Neither of them noticed that it wasn’t Amy in the doorway because at that moment Rosa got the upper hand and they were to preoccupied shouting and cursing.

Rosa laughed “Oh my God Ams, that’s like the 100th time I’ve beaten our loser boyfriend”

“It is not th-” Jake started but stop short when he turned and looked at the kid standing in the doorway “Who are you? Wait do I know you?”

There was a young man standing there looking very nervous and very confused. He couldn’t have been much more then sixteen and had the look of drowned rat. When he spoke his voice cracked badly.

“Yeah, we met last summer at the barbeque” He said rubbing the back of his head “I’m Jay, William’s son”

“Okay Jay, what are you doing here?” Jake asked “I thought you guys lived upstate”

“We do, who’s this?” He asked gesturing at Rosa then added “Hi, I’m jay”

“Answer the question Jay, what are you doing here?” Rosa said.

“Oh did Amy not mention that I was coming to say?” He said a little too nonchalantly “Must have slipped her mind”

“Really” Rosa said getting up “That’s funny because Amy has a real strict protocol for overnight guests, one that involves three days of carefully regimented planning. I don’t remember her doing any of that, how about you Jake? You remember any of that?”

“No Rosa, I do not remember any of that” Jake said, also getting up and closing the door behind the kid “It could be because that never happened because this isn’t a scheduled visit. You want minuet to rethink your story?”

There was a long pause during which he stared at his sneakers, seemingly unsure of what to say next.

“Well then I guess we just call Amy and see what she thinks” Jake said reaching for his phone.

“No don’t!” Jay exclaimed suddenly.

“Look, we have-” Jake started but Rosa cut him off with a raised hand.

“Hang on a minuet Jake, let’s see what the kid has to say first” She turned to Jay and gesturing at the table said “Sit”

He did as he was told and started fixedly at his hands. Rosa put a glass of water and some left over Chinese in front of him. He was shocked for a minuet but didn’t waste any time in devouring the food. While he was eating Rosa went to Jake who was still by the door for a whispered conversation.

“Look, we have to call Amy” Jake said in his worried squeak.

“Yeah, but we need to find out what’s going on here first. You said he lived upstate? Why did he come here on his own and just turn up at Amy’s house? Any why doesn’t he want us to call her? At the moment he’s safe here and we need to find out more about what is going on here before we do anything” she whispered back “You meet his dad, what was he like?”

“Pretty typical Santiago stuff, competitive, kind of obsessive and a bit of a snob but didn’t seem that bad” Jake said shrugging then added “Look I know what you’re thinking and I don’t think that’s what’s going on here. The Santiago’s aren’t like that; I mean most of them are in law enforcement”

“Yeah, because cops have never been guilty of abuse” Rosa said bluntly.

Jake sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose “Okay, you’re right, but are going to have to tell Amy eventually”

They both looked at Jay who had finished eating and gone back to staring at his hands. Rosa sat opposite him and said “Okay Jay, talk. What are you doing here?”

“I told you, I’m just here to visit Amy”

“Look Jay, you’re not in any trouble” Jake said calmly “We just want to help you but we can’t do that if you’re not honest with us”

“Look it’s no big deal, I just” he faltered “I just had a fight with my dad and left that’s all. I don’t know why I came here, I just sore the bus and I don’t know decided to come out here. You and Amy are like, the coolest people in my family and I thought I could crash here for a bit”

“Oh my God, you think we’re cool?” Jake asked excitedly

Rosa gave him a look and asked “You often fight with your dad?”

“Yeah, he’s so uptight” Jay said rolling his eyes “He’s always like ‘Jay cut your hair’, ‘Jay, get a job’, ‘Jay why aren’t your grades as good as everyone else’s, why can’t you be more like the others?’ and ugh, it’s just a lot, you know?”

Rosa nodded sympathetically and asked “So what made this time different enough that you came all the way out here?”

“Did your dad do something to you?” Jake asked gently

Jay looked up in shock and said quickly “What? No, nothing like that! We’ve just been fighting, just like shouting and stuff, about my future a lot. He wants me to go to college and I don’t want to go. Now he’s signed my up for this summer school thing and I, I don’t want to! I wanted to spend the summer working in the garage and he didn’t even ask me. He just put me down and assumed I’d do as I’m told like a good little boy but I won’t! I won’t do it!”

His voice was rising and he looked like he was on the verge of either breaking something, bursting into tears on running for his life, it is often hard to tell with teenagers.

“Look, it’s okay Jay, everything’s fine” Jake said calmly “Here’s what’s going to happen, we’re going to call Amy and let her know you’re here. Then, I don’t know, we can talk to your dad tomorrow. I’m sure if you explain it to him calmly he’ll understand”

“I’m sure he won’t” Jay snapped jumping up “Coming here was a mistake, I’m just… I should just go”

“You want to go? Fine” Rosa snapped “we won’t stop you”

“You won’t?”

“We won’t?”

Jake and Jay said in unison.

“No, we won’t but here’s what happens if you walk out that door. You’re reported missing then best case scenario is you get picked up law enforcement and end back home with you dad because you’re still a minor and end up in exactly the same position you are now. Except, instead of speaking to him on your own terms and controlling how and when that meeting happens, everything is on his terms he dictates how it goes. That’s your base case scenario, worst case scenario is you end up dead or worse and your family never find out what happened to you because when a young Latin boy dies; most cops chalk it up to gang warfare and don’t try too hard to find out who he was. That is assuming, you don’t get arrested and locked up for the same reason” Rosa said and after giving his minute to proses went on “Or, you stay here with us and work exactly what to say to your dad”

“And while you’re doing that we can eat ice cream and play video games” Jake added.

“Yeah, beating Jake at every single game can cheer anyone up” Rosa said.

“Hey!” He exclaimed “I’m not that bad! Not at all of them”

“Every. Single. One” Rosa said in her most threatening deadpan.

Jay cracked a small smile at the exchange and said “Fine, but my dad won’t listen. He never listens”

Rosa rolled her eyes and said “I bet he doesn’t but that means he’s no more likely to listen whenever you get brought back then he is now. You two pick a game and I’ll let Amy know what’s going on.


	2. Chapter 2

Amy was having a bad day. For a start Jake and Rosa had the day off and work was always less fun without them, even if she was generally more productive without the distract. It had already been a busy day and then there had been the incident with the damn frat boys. Frat boys were the worst. Now to make things worse she had about fifty missed calls, mostly from her parents and a few from her brothers and their families which either meant something amazing had happened or something awful and considering the day she was having, there was no way it could be something amazing.

Amy felt like the ground had been pulled out from under her as she listened to the progressively more worried and in some cases fully hysterical messages from her family. Her nephew Jay had been in another fight with her brother and stormed out, which wasn’t that unusual but that had been almost twenty four hours ago and there was still no sign of him. She could feel herself starting to panic, she didn’t have any messages from him and no one had any idea where he had gone. She tried to calm down, it wasn’t like Jay was a small child, he was seventeen and ok, seventeen year-olds where defiantly not adults but they weren’t completely helpless. He was probably fine, he was a smart boy and of all her nieces and nephews she’d give him the best odds for surviving on his own. She was surprised that the last message on the list was from Rosa.

“Hey babe, your nephew Jay turned up at home. He’s fine but he wants to talk to you before you tell anyone else. I think he was planning to run away but got cold feet came to see you instead. He seems pretty flighty but Jake’s got him distracted with Mario Cart and ice cream. Seriously, call me before you tell anyone else we’ve got him. Love you”

Amy breathed for the first time since checking her phone, Jay was fine, he was safe and that’s what mattered. After taking a minuet to regain her composure she dialled Rosa.

“Hey babe, how’s work?” Rosa asked.

“Is he ok?” Amy asked, still a little breathless.

“Yeah, he was a bit shaken when he arrived but he’s fine now. Tell your brother he owes me a tub of moose tracks” She said “But forget about that, have you told anyone we’ve got him yet?”

“No, you asked me not to” Amy said then asked “Why are we keeping this a secret? My family are going insane. I haven’t been able to check my phone for ages and I’ve got a million missed calls and messages from them. I’ve never seen William this worried. I have to tell them soon”

“Yeah, but he wants to talk to you first. I think you should listen to him, it sounds like he’s having real problems at home. To be honest I thought it might have violence when he first got here with the way he was acting but from the way he talks about his dad I don’t think so”

“Rosa! That’s my brother you’re talking about” Amy said in shock.

“I know, that’s the point. He’s your brother, not mine so I can look at this objectively” Rosa said then sighed “Look, I just think there is something wrong in that house and if you force him to go back without hearing him out first, chances are he’ll do this again only next time he won’t trust you enough to come here first”

“Oh God, this is a nightmare” Amy said

“Title of your sex tape” Rosa said.

“Ok fine! I’ll be home as soon as I can” She said “love you”

“Love you to, see you soon” Rosa said hanging up.

Amy spent the entire way home trying to process what Rosa had told her. It couldn’t be true, I mean sure, William was competitive but that was normal Santiago stuff. The whole family was competitive, well apart from Jay. He just never saw the point, he didn’t care about winning and he didn’t care about success. From what her brother had told her, which wasn’t much since he preferred to talk about his other children, the boy was a bit of a screw up and didn’t seem to care. She knew it had been a point of friction in the house hold for years but violence? William would never. I mean sure, she knew that he shouted at his kids and was way more critical of them then she would have been but he was no more intense about winning then their parents had been. Well not much more intense.

When she got in it was to see Jake and Jay in a neck and neck in a fight to the finish at Mario Kart. She felt herself relax a little at the sight of him safe and whole and already supplied with some of pyjamas. Jake looked over at her entrance which allowed Jay to get the upper hand win the round; at his cheer Jakes head snapped back around.

“No way man that doesn’t count” Jake exclaimed.

“Oh it so does, it’s a tie Peralta” Jay said then turned to Amy and said “Err… hey Aunt Amy, how’s, how’s it going?”

Before she could say anything Rosa put a hand on her arm and said quietly so Jay couldn’t hear “Don’t be angry, trust me”.

She looked over at her partner and nodded and said “Hey Jay, are you okay?”

He nodded as she came and sat with him on the sofa and asked him “So what’s going on man? Rosa said I should hear you out before I do anything”

He glanced over at Rosa and hesitated for a minute before telling her much the same story he had given early. Although, this time around he was a little more articulate and a lot less agitated.

“Then he asked why I was being lazy and ungrateful about the summer school and I told him that wasn’t it” Jay said.

“Uh hu, so why don’t you want to go to summer school?” Amy asked gently.

“Because I don’t want to go to college” Jay said miserably “I’d already told Mr Franklin at the garage that I’d work for him over the summer, he promised to teach me how to repaired anything but I can’t if I go to summer school”

Amy nodded and asked “Did you tell your dad this?”

“Yeah, he blew up about me not wanting to go to college and said that no son of his was going to waste his time fixing cars instead of getting a real education and that while I lived under his roof I would have to do as he says” Jay said playing with his controller and not meeting Amy’s eye “So I err… I said fine and just ran for it, are you going to make me go back? He’s going to make go to summer school isn’t he?”

“I’m not going to make you go back” Amy said squeezing his shoulder gently “I just, I just need a minuet to think about this, okay?”

He looked up at Amy for the first time since starting his story with a hopeful smile. She got up and left him to resume his battle with Jake and walked into the kitchen where Rosa was making tea. She handed Amy a cup and folded her arms, watching the boys playing and knew that tomorrow she would thrash them both at this game.

“Well?” Rosa said very quietly “What do you think?”

Amy sighed said in Spanish _“I think my brother’s an ass”_

_“He was in a real bad state where he arrived”_ Rosa said.

_“In your message you said you thought maybe William was, that he…”_ Amy trailed off, unsure of how to finish the sentence.

Rosa sighed _“I wasn’t sure; I thought it was possible but honestly? I think he was trying to run away because of the pressure; not because of a physical threat”_

Amy sighed and said _“At least he came here instead of just disappearing”_

_“I think he was planning to and just got cold feet”_ Rosa said then added _“It means he trusts you, and like I said before, if you lose that trust and this happens again we won’t get the chance to help him”_

Amy nodded. She leaned heavily on Rosa who slipped an arm around her. Neither spoke for a long moment before Amy broke the silence

_“I’m going to have to call his parents, aren’t I?”_ She said heavily

_“Yep”_ Rosa said.

_“He’s going to think we I betrayed him, isn’t he?”_ Amy said sadly.

_“Probably”_ Rosa replied.

Jay glanced over at his Aunt who was watching him from the kitchen, leaning on her girlfriend. They were saying something in Spanish so he looked away quickly so as not to arouse suspicion and subtly leant towards Jake.

“What are they saying?” He whispered without looking across at Amy and Rosa.

“What? You don’t speak Spanish?” Jake whispered back shocked “I thought all the Santiago’s spoke Spanish?”

“Dad never spoke it at home; anyway do you not speak it? You’re dating two Latina women, you should defiantly have learned some” Jay shot back.

“What?” Jake squeaked.

“You guys are dating right? This is a poly thing, isn’t it? Like you and Rosa both called Amy your girlfriend when I came in and Rosa clearly lives here. Like it’s pretty obvious you guys are dating. It’s pretty woke ngl” He said looking between the three “Oh my God, does abuela know? Please let me be there if you tell her, wait does anyone know? Is it like a secret?”

“Err…” Amy said not willing to face the question.

“Did you just verbalise ngl?” Rosa cut in.

“Look” Amy snapped “My relationship is not the issue here, Jay I’m sorry but we have to tell your parents that we’ve got you. They’ve already reported you missing and everyone is so worried”

“But you can stay with us as long as you need to” Rosa added.

“Yeah, I’ll talk to William about that if you want” Amy went on the added more sternly “But in the meantime, it’s gone eleven thirty you need to go to bed”

“What? Aw come on Aunt Amy!” He whined “just one more game”

“Yeah Ams, one more game, we’re tied. We can’t go to bed tied!” Jake added.

Rosa rolled her eyes affectionately at Jake’s childishness then said “It would mean first crack at the bathroom”

After a moment Amy relented to the joy of both Jake and Jay who quickly resumed their game with much shouting but lowered their voices when Amy shushed them.

“Are you going to call you brother now?” Rosa asked and when Amy nodded she added “Have fun with that”

Amy came into the bedroom several taxing phone calls later. Not only had she had to call her brother but she also had to call around half the family and let them know Jay was safe. Her parents would be coming over tomorrow and William and his wife Val would be here by the evening. She was feeling more than a little apprehensive about tomorrow and thoroughly exhausted from a very long day. She collapsed on the bed next to Rosa and put her arms over her eyes. She groaned. A minuet later Jake appeared looking dejected.

Rosa laughed and said “He beat you didn’t?”

Jake collapsed heavily next to her and said “I don’t want talk about, how’d it go with his dad? What’s happening?”

Amy groaned again then said “I convinced him to wait until tomorrow before driving down. I honestly don’t know if he wants him back or not; he did seem really worried but I think after it sunk in that Jay’s safe he went back to being mad”

“Seriously?” Rosa said “Amy I’m sorry but your brother is the worst”

“He said that if Jay thinks he’s so clever he can try it on his own for a while, see how clever he is then” Amy said rubbing her eyes “Then ranted about everything he’d done for him for a bit”

Jake pushed himself up on his elbows and said “Seriously?” in an even more offended tone then Rosa “What did you say to him?”

“I didn’t get the chance to say anything, his wife took the phone before I got the chance” Amy said opening her eyes and looking over “I think they’re fighting at the moment”

Rosa laughed and Jake said “Good”

“Hey, Val is nice” Amy said defensively “She’s a saint. I kind of told her that Jay could stay with us as long as he needed to. Do you guys mind? I know teenage boys are the worst”

“Of course not babe” Jake said turning on to his side to face his partners.

“Teenage boys are the worst and he seems like a pretty dumb kid but no, I don’t mind. I wish I’d had somewhere like this” Rosa said, staring at the celling “How old is he?”

“Seventeen” Amy said taking her hand gently

“Older then I was when I left home” She said still not looking at them and repeated quietly “No, I don’t mind”

“I’m sorry” Jake said giving her other hand a squeeze.

Rosa sighed with a smile then a look of serious concern passed over her face “So do we, like have a kid now?”

“Err… Maybe?” Amy said actually thinking about for the first time.

“CoolCoolCoolCoolCoolCool” Jake said then asked in his falsely nonchalant voice “How do you look after a seventeen year old? How much do they eat? And do they have bedtimes? I didn’t have a bedtime but I never had a bed time, I just fell asleep in front of the T.V, that’s not right is it?”

“No, it is not” Rosa said then gasped “The guns!”

“I already put them in the safe” Amy mumbled, half asleep.

Jake and Rosa both looked over at her then at each other, nodding in silent agreement, the spiral could wait until tomorrow. This whole mess could wait until tomorrow.


	3. Chapter 3

Rosa was awake by six the next morning as usual. She dressed quietly in her running gear and slipped out of the bedroom trying not to wake her partners. Quiet as she was, Jake stirred enough to tell she was crazy before snuggling back down into the blankets. She smiled as she headed into the living and was surprised to see Jay was already up and rummaging in the fridge. He looked up guiltily at her entrance.

“Morning?” He offered “Hey are you going to the gym?

“Running” She said then added a little suspiciously “You’re up early”

He wandered back over to the sofa saying “Yeah, always been an early riser, about the only thing my dad likes about me” he looked a little nervous for a minuet then asked uncertainly “Can I come? Running I mean”

“Sure” Rosa said a little uncertainly then, eyeing his lanky frame, added “Let me just grab you some clothes, they are not going to fit well”

He smirked saying “Yeah, this is a pretty short household”

He jumped back in apparent terror at the look she shot him. He remained nervous in the cocky sort of way of seventeen year old boys but seemed to calm down after a while. They talked a little, well he mostly talked and no amount of threats from Rosa would get him to shut up; if anything they seemed to encourage him. In the end Rosa relented and, giving up any hope of a peaceful run, answered his litany of question about literally everything. Although when the questions turned to cars and she revealed that she fixed up classic cars, that was all he wanted to talk about. Eventually the questions subsided and there was a long silence during which she sensed he wanted to say something.

“Oh my God! Just spit it out” She snapped “How is your silence more annoying?”

He smirked at the idea of being annoying and then asked in what he probably though was a casual tone “Are you going to be there when my dad arrives?”

“Do you want me there?” Rosa asked.

“I mean I don’t care, like if you were it wouldn’t be a problem but if you’ve got other stuff to do that’s cool to” He said dismissively.

Rosa rolled her eyes at the sheer stupidity and pride of teenagers and said “Yes, I’ll be there”

The relief from him was palpable and he visibly relaxed before diving into further questions about cars.

When they got back, Amy was up drinking and coffee and watching the news. She smiled when they came in and said “wow JJ, those cloths really do not fit”

He laughed and stretched, causing his t shirt to ride up and said “I don’t know, I think they make me look sexy!”

Amy rolled her eyes and Rosa said “Seriously dude, put it away” and as he continued to laugh at his own joke she said to Amy “Okay, he’s your problem now”

As she left for the shower he grabbed his clothes and said “Is there somewhere I can get changed? I wouldn’t want your girlfriend to fall for me in this sexy outfit, or your boyfriend for that matter”

Amy rolled her eyes and said “Just wait until you’ve showered” then add it his slightly puzzled and sheepish face “Dude! Were you not going to shower after running? Ugh, teenagers are gross”

After Rosa emerged from the shower it took a shocking amount of pressure to get Jay in to the shower, in the end it was the promise of pancakes that got him moving.

“God, why don’t teenagers shower?” Amy asked as the door closed behind him.

“Because teenagers are the worst” Rosa said as she started making breakfast “never mind that, he wants me around when he talks to his dad”

“Okay, so is that a problem?” Amy asked a little confused at Rosa’s tone.

“Not for me, but how are you going to explain to your family what I’m doing here? I know you haven’t told them about us and is this how you want them all to find out?” Rosa asked folding her arms.

“Right now JJ is the priority” Amy said fiercely “And if he wants you there well then we are all just going to have to deal with it”

Rosa smiled and pulled her girlfriend in for a kiss. She loved it when Amy got angry at anything other than her.

“EWW!” Jay shouted from the doorway.

“Why are you not in the shower?” Rosa snapped leaning back but not letting go of Amy who had turned very red.

“I forgot my phone” He said grabbing it from the sofa and heading back into the bathroom.

When the door had closed behind him for a second time Rosa shook her head and said “Why does he need his phone in the shower?”

Amy leaned in to her and said “what have we let ourselves in for?”

Eventually the smell of pancakes drew Jake from the bedroom. Amy appearing to get dressed and throwing a pillow at him might also have had something to do with it but the promise of pancakes would always get Jake moving. He sat at the table with Jay yawning as he watched Rosa cooking.

“You know, I would not have guessed that you were the cooking type” Jay said to Rosa as she put a heaped plate one the table.

She rolled her eyes and said “I am the only one in the house who can cook”

“Hey I can use the microwave” Jake said offended “That’s cooking”

“It is not” Rosa said.

Before the conversation could go any further Amy appeared on the phone.

“Okay, bye” Amy said hanging up “That was my parents, they coming over to see JJ, they’ll be here in an hour”

“What? Why? Do you think they’re mad?” Jay asked growing worried.

Amy winced and said “Kind of, they’re going to want know what happened”

Jay put his head in his hands “Oh God, what do I do?”

“You relax and tell them what happened” Rosa said bluntly “We can help if you want”

“Yeah and if it all gets too much, just give one of us the heads up and we’ll make sure you can go get some air” Amy said then added “Jake, go get dressed”

“But it’s Saturday!” he said indignantly “Saturdays are for pyjamas, anyway your parents already think I’m a slob”

“They really do, so does my dad but he also thinks I’m a slob so you know” JJ said shrugging.

“Jake now!” Amy snapped

“Okay” he said fearfully leaping to his feet.

“So, like Amy’s the one who wears the trousers in this relationship then? She’s the boss right?” Jay asked Rosa.

“Dude, that’s not how healthy relationships work” Rosa said focusing on her pancakes “But yeah”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been thinking a lot about the current situation in America and whether or not I feel comfortable writing about cops with everything that's going on. Despite everything, I will continue with this and my other works as writing is a mjaor coping mechanism for me and a form of escapism. That being said, I will be donating to the national bailout fund and would ask anyone who enjoys my work and can afford to to do the same.
> 
> https://bailfunds.github.io/

At precisely 10:30 Amy’s parents knocked on the door causing Rosa’s hand to tighten on her tea. She glanced at Amy, who gave her reassuring smile, and then at Jay, who had gone very pale. She clenched her jaw, however nervous she was about Amy’s parents finding out about their relationship, she’d told Jay she’d be here for him and she’d be damned if she let the stupid kid down. When Amy opened the door and the greetings were unsurprisingly subdued.

“Detective Diaz” Camilla said “we didn’t know that you would be here”

“Nope, I guess you didn’t” She said getting up “You guys guy want a coffee? Or Tea?”

When her parents gave her look, Amy said quietly “I’ll explain latter”

They nodded a little uncertainly but accepted the offered hospitality before heading over to where Jay was sitting with Jake.

“Well Jason?” Victor asked not unkindly with his arms folded “What have you got to say for yourself?”

Jason’s eyes were glued to his feet as he started to mumble a rough outline of what had happened.

Victor sighed in irritation and snapped “Speak up, and look at me when you’re speaking to me”

Jay seemed to shrink a little at the interruption but looked up at his grandfather and started again “I had a fight with my dad about school and stuff so I came here”

Victor raised his eyebrows and said “That’s it? That’s all you’ve got to say? Why did you leave? Why come out here?”

Jay didn’t say anything; he just went back to staring at his feet. He felt like something had a hold his tongue and was twisting his stomach. He just wanted to get out of here.

“Have you nothing to say for yourself?” Camilla said “You could have been killed! You’ve had the whole family worrying about you and you scared your mother half to death and for what? Because you and William had an argument? You should be ashamed of yourself”

Jay clenched his jaw but didn’t say anything and looked away. He wanted to tell them what had happened, why he had done it but he just couldn’t find the words.

“Unbelievable” Victor said shaking his head in disbelief “Did you think this would be funny? It that it? Was this some kind of joke? Are you that childish, that foolish?”

Jay head snapped up and he said in a mixture of anger and desperation “No!”

“Well then why?” Victor cut in “What possible reason could you have for this?”

“Maybe if you both back off and gave him some room to speak he could tell you” Rosa snapped, her temper finally getting the better of her.

There was a long moment of stunned silence before before Camilla recovered enough to ask indignantly “What did you say?”

Rosa’s arms dropped to her sides, fists balled, fingers itching for a weapon “You heard me”

Before anyone else could speak Jake jumped to his feet, he could see that Jay was on the verge of running and if truth be told he wasn’t too happy in this situation either. Honestly a shouting match was the last thing Jay needed right now but he could recognise the murder in his partners eyes; there was no way Rosa would backing down from this. He just needed to get Jay out of there and hopefully by the time they came back the three of them would have gotten it out of their systems, preferably without out actual bloodshed.

“Look I think everyone just needs to calm down” He said “We’ve got some shopping to do, why don’t me and Jay go do that and while we’re out Amy and Rosa can tell you guy what he told us last night. Would that be okay Jay?”

Jay looked like he’d been thrown a life line and nodded silently, also jumping up. Jake turned to the Santiago’s, who didn’t look entirely happy with the suggestion but didn’t argue. When the door shut behind them Victor sighed.

“I don’t see why he needs you to explain what was going through his head” He said irritably.

“Really? You can’t think of any reason? He’s spent his whole life being told what a screw up he is and I bet not once has it ever matter if he had a good reason for doing something, or if a mistake was just an accident” Rosa said.

“And how would you know that?” Victor snapped, getting angrier by the second.

“Because I actually spoke to the kid, instead of just yelling at him” Rosa responded hotly.

“Look” Amy cut in “what Rosa is trying to say is that if William hasn’t ever given JJ the chance to explain anything, and we all know he hasn’t, then it’s no surprise that he’s struggling to explain what happened now. He doesn’t think it matters what he say’s or why he did it because it never mattered to William”

“I know your brother can be strict, but that is no excuse for doing something so reckless and so dangerous. He could have been killed” Camilla said with an attempt at calm.

“You think we don’t know that?” Rosa snapped “You think he doesn’t know that? He knows what he did was a stupid risk but did it ever cross your mind that he thought it was a risk worth taking?”

“And what is that supposed to mean?” She shot back.

“What that means is, do you even care why he tried to run away?” Rosa said viciously.

“Of course we care! And we have every right to be worried when our grandson goes missing!” Victor responded, fast losing his composure.

“Yeah and you think this is going to help? Yelling at him? Belittling him? Not listening to a word he’s got to say” Rosa snarled.

“This doesn’t have anything to do with you” Camilla snapped “You’re not a part of this family; I don’t even know why you are in my daughters apartment. Think it’s time you went home detective Diaz and left this to his family”

Before Rosa could say anything Amy jumped in equally angrily “Rosa lives here! She is a part of this family and she’s the only reason we were able to get anything out of JJ. He trusts her and I trust her judgment”

“You live here?” Victor asked then turning to his daughter “She’s a part of this family?”

Amy nodded, suddenly nervous because of the way everyone was staring at her in shock and said “she’s as much a part of this family as Jake is” and regaining her composure went on “But relationship my relationship with Rosa isn’t the issue here, JJ is the priority and getting into a shouting match isn’t going to help so all three of you need to calm down!”

Rosa pinched the bridge of her nose and enunciating each word very carefully said “If you ignore him, nothing will change and he will try to run away again. Next time we won’t be so lucky. I know about kids like him, I was a kid like him. If you ask him calmly, you’ll be able to work out a plan but if you confront him he’ll just run”

Victor sat down next to his wife and rubbing his face tiredly said “Okay, can you tell us exactly what happened?”

Rosa sat down with Amy and together they explained what had happened. By the end Victor and Camilla looked confused and exasperated in equal measures.

“So that’s what this comes down to? The summer school? Ah I told your brother to speak to the boy first, I warned him not to force the issue” Victor said shaking his head irritably.

“What it comes down to is William not having any respect for his son or his choices” Rosa said “I appreciate that Santiago’s are competitive and are all higher achievers but the truth is, Jay is old enough to know what he wants and if he can’t get that at home, he’ll try to find somewhere he can”

“And I suppose during all of this you managed to find out what it is that he wants?” Camilla asked.

“What he seemed most upset about with the summer school was that he couldn’t work in the garage” Amy said “I think what he really wants is to work with cars”

“Yeah” Rosa said with a small laugh “He’s got a passion. He spent over half an hour asking me about cars this morning”

Victor sighed “It’s not what we would have chosen for him but, as you say, he’s old enough to know what he wants and if that’s what makes him happy”

Amy seemed to visibly relax. She knew it would be so much easier to make her brother see sense about this whole thing with her parents on side.

“We will talk to your brother” Camilla said “I think we can get him to understand why the summer school is a bad idea but not going to college? That will be more difficult”

Victor looked at Rosa and said “You seem to have quite a connection with him, if you could persuade him to think about college, maybe an engineering degree, it would be a lot easier to persuade William of the merits of this career path”

Rosa sighed and shook her head but said “I’ll talk to him but I’m not going to be a part of forcing him into something he doesn’t want to do”

Victor nodded and now that it seemed a consensus had been reached, Amy sent off a text to Jake to let him know it was safe to come back. Not long after him and Jay appeared with the shopping. Jay looked very nervous as he went and sat down next to Rosa and, not looking at anyone, launched into seemed be a prepared speech.

“I’m sorry that I upset everyone and I’m sorry that my mom was so worried. I didn’t mean for anyone to get upset, I just got overwhelmed with everything” He paused glancing around before ploughing on “But it wasn’t fair of my dad to enter me into the summer school without asking me first either. It’s not fair that he just assumed he knew what was best for me without considering what I actually want to do. It’s my life, not his”

He seemed to deflate a little when he finished speaking and resumed staring fixedly at his feet. Victor leaned back in his chair and folded his arms causing Jay’s head to shoot up. His breath caught as he waited for his grandfather to speak.

“Thank you for your apology and I couldn’t agree more” He said which seemed to knock the wind out of Jay “Rosa and Amy tell that you want to go into auto-mechanics?”

Jay nodded silently, caught off guard by his grandparents apparent U-turn.

“Well if that’s what you want, then that’s your choice. I will speak to you father, I can’t promise he’ll listen but we can have a proper discussion with everyone involved tomorrow” He turned to Amy and asked “Amy, I know it’s short notice but would you be willing to have everyone here for lunch tomorrow so that we can discuss this fully?”

“Of course” She said quickly “It’s no problem and JJ’s fine to stay here with us for as long as he needs to”

“I… thank you” Jay said in shock “So what happens now?”

“I will call William and find out exactly when he will arrive and explain the situation to him” Victor said standing up.

While he paced up and down talking to his son on the phone, Rosa went to help Jake with the shopping.

“Well how did it go?” He asked softly “Did it get violent?”

Rosa shook her head and said “no but it was close. When everyone calmed down and we explained what happened that were actually okay about it all”

“Good, Santiago’s may be competitive as hell but they all listen to their parents” Jake said then glancing across at Jay added “Well most of them do”

“Dude, why is the ice cream so soft?” Rosa said suddenly and deeply irritated.

“Oh um no reason, it just um came like that” Jake said with an attempt at cool that faltered under her glare “and the fact that we were hiding in the lobby for ages might have had something to do with it”

“God damn it Jake” She said without much conviction.

“Okay, that’s all sorted” Victor said hanging up “William and Val will being staying with us and Jason will remain here until you all go home on tomorrow”

Jay sighed and said “I was kind of hoping to stay here for a bit longer”

“You have school on Monday and college aside, you need to get your high school diploma” Victor said.

“I guess” he said resignedly “When are mom and dad going to be here?”

“At 6 o’clock” Victor said standing up “They’ll be coming over to see you briefly and William assures me they won’t ask you about any of this until tomorrow when we have lunch, are you sure you don’t mind hosting at such short notice?” Hw asked Amy.

“It’s no trouble; I have a contingency plan for emergency or short notice meals and gatherings” Amy said happily.

Rosa rolled her eyes but was smiling all the same and Jake said grinning “Oh of course you do”

“Well, we should be going” Victor said, he hugged Amy nodded to Jake and, much to her surprise, shook Rosa’s hand “We will see the four of you tomorrow afternoon”

As the door shut behind them it seemed like everyone relaxed a great deal. Rosa dropped into a chair and sighed saying “Is it too early for a beer?”

“I’d like a beer” Jay piped up.

This was met by three unanimous No’s. That seemed to take the last of the tension from the air as the four of them laughed.

“So Aunt Amy, what do you think was worse, trying to explain to them that I don’t want to go to college or that you’re in a thruple?”

“A what?” Jake asked.

“You know, like couple but three” He said laughing.

“God, teenagers are the worst” Rosa said shaking her head.

There was a long pause before Jay said, much more seriously “Do you think dad with listen to grandpa?”

Amy sighed “Honestly? I don’t know man but we’ve got over six hours before we have to deal with them”

Despite all the reassurance, Jay still looked nervous at the thought.


End file.
